Sports

IPL– The torchbearer for sports and players.

Happy New Year to everyone and what better way to start the new year by writing few thoughts related to my favorite sport – cricket.

My 6 year old son is a cricket lover – plays, watches and talks about cricket a lot. We were watching Big Bash League match few days back and he asked me about the teams and players. I told him it’s the Australian IPL and he straight away asked what are the cities and their team names? It was such an easy connect for him since he follows Indian Premier League IPL big time and knows quite a bit about team names, captains and players involved. He remembered and said that the Kabaddi matches also are like this only. He could relate there too and remembered we had gone to see the finals of first year where Jaipur Pink Panthers had defeated Mumbai team UMumba.

Yesterday I was watching Premier Badminton League PBL match between PV Sindhu and Carolina Marin so again he started asking details. I just told him its like IPL of Badminton and he could easily understand and asked me about the cities and team names for the tournament plus who the top players are.

It made me realize that IPL’s contribution has been immense not only to cricket in India and worldwide but also to sports overall in India. The concept of IPL has come into all sports in India – Hockey, Kabaddi, Football, Badminton to name a few. This has definitely helped sports on the whole in our country and also level of players of India has improved on the world stage. It has also helped athletes financially plus giving them great exposure.

IPL has become one of the biggest job creators too I feel. Right from current players to upcoming players to retired players everyone is involved in the game. Also coaches, mentors, physios, support staff, umpires, etc- everywhere there is an opportunity for people to get involved. Having number of franchises makes it more open and more chances for everyone. It has given the right exposure and platform for domestic players to play with international players and go to next level, learn and improve their game. This is why I say IPL is the torch bearer for sports and players.

T-20 format is a fun format and in 3hours the result is out after lots of 4’s, 6’s and wickets. The format has attracted lot of females too. We see lot of females enjoying and watching these matches. T-20 format has become quite popular amongst the women’s cricket teams of all countries. Australia already has started a women’s tournament Women’s Big Bash League which is such a good sign.

India as it is is so diverse and having teams from different cities makes it exciting and it gives international players a chance to learn and know the variety of Indian culture. All teams are a good mix of national, international and regional players thereby making a good combination. Most of the time international players have spoken positive about IPL and have shared their experiences in their respective countries with people, which definitely sends out positive vibes. It is indirect way of promoting Indian sports and Indian tourism.

Overall, it is just how to take the positives out of IPL and take them in the right direction. Please feel free to share your views and inputs on IPL and its role.